Newsletters

GHS Connect #27 Monday 27 April

From the Head

A quiet week again last week with no students in school, although there was plenty of email traffic and updates as the government continues to grapple with how best to manage this situation. They have now announced a laptop scheme for vulnerable Year 10s (it would be great if they pull this off), an extension to FSM vouchers to some other families and a consultation around whether we should extend teacher assessed grades to Year 10 and below. I know that many of you have responded to this consultation - thank you.

Lots has also been going on remotely and I wanted to thank everyone so much for all of their hard work in continuing to provide the very best for our students. I have heard many great and exciting things about how remote learning is taking shape. We have also been supporting our students pastorally - thank you to tutors who have set up google classroom with tutees and to all of the staff who have been phoning home to check up on our vulnerable students. We are also continuing to work on staffing. Last Monday, we welcomed Lucy Metcalfe to the team, our new Deputy SENCO, and this week, we will be interviewing for some external posts. Watch this space for more news on that....

Will has done an excellent job of populating the Staff Wellbeing area of the VLE, with a dedicated section called Covid-19 Wellbeing. It is well worth a look and we’d also like people to continue to add to it, so if you have any tips on how to get through this time in a positive way, then please email Will so that he can add them to the area.

Last week, I emailed everybody to check in and to offer a phone call, ‘google meet’ or email discussion for any reason. Please do stay in touch and feel free to contact me to discuss anything - it doesn’t matter how small or trivial it might seem; I’m always happy to hear from everybody. SLT will also be beginning to phone people - this is simply to stay in touch and check that everyone is okay (it’s not to check up on anybody!) If anyone does wish to speak to someone in person, although we are observing social distancing, there will be a member of SLT in school every morning. 

Please do take care of yourselves. 

Mia

Remote Learning and Teaching

Spotted!

A round up of some of the great remote learning and teaching strategies Greenford staff are using currently…

> Stephen Conlon providing technical support and tips for online teaching  both inside and outside his department.

> Simon Parry producing some topical work for students on the impact of the current situation on businesses!

> Christine Gada using her classroom  visualiser to record material for mini-lessons.

Google Classroom guidance

A number of us are finding that the challenge of getting students to submit work  is not reduced in our online school!  Many  thanks for your patience as we help students navigate this new world and for supporting them with technical problems, access issues and teenage motivation!

Georgina Stevens has the interesting experience of seeing this from both sides, as a teacher and as a mum homeschooling her son and she’s put together some tips from a student’s perspective that might help us to help them even more.  

Lachlan’s Top Tips for Google Classroom

My son, Lachlan, is in Year 7 and yesterday he told me a couple of things he wishes all his teachers were doing on Google Classroom - so I thought I would share.  Not rocket science but was good to have a student’s perspective:

1. Make sure your google classroom name has your subject in it (Obvious, I know but some of his just say his class code, as you can see below, whereas it would be easier if they all said class code + subject. Although, teacher's name does appear below class code but I have removed here):

2. When you set an assignment, he likes it when the teacher puts the date in the title so it is really clear to follow:

3. When there is more than one attachment on an assignment, Lachlan has said he finds it easiest when the teacher numbers the attachment as part of the name of the attachment so he knows the order to do them in (E.g. “1. Instruction video.mp4”   / “2. Powerpoint slide.ppt”  /  “3. Task sheet.docx”)  Yesterday, he received 4 attachments in one assignment and got very frustrated trying to work out what order to open them and complete them in!!!

4. Try and follow a routine - he knows that English is set on Mondays and Wednesdays; Maths on Tuesdays, Thursdays  and Fridays etc (you can ‘schedule’ assignments to arrive on certain days in advance when you ’Assign’)

Georgina Stevens

Wellbeing focus

Staff wellbeing is particularly important during stressful situations such as the COVID-19 Coronavirus pandemic. We've created a new page within the Staff Wellbeing section of the VLE called COVID-19 Wellbeing.

Recent additions to this page include links to boost wellbeing ranging from online fitness to a list of free trials and offers plus details of a roundtable discussion on how medical professionals deal with the stress and anxiety of work. 

There are also mindfulness sessions through Workplace Options this coming week. Workplace Options is a service we subscribe to that offers a huge range of benefits to staff from counselling and financial advice to wellbeing support such as mindfulness sessions or roundtable discussions. 

In focus: Speakers for Schools

Speakers for Schools are continuing their programme of virtual talks. They are offering free livestreamed talks from some of the UK’s leading figures. Students will be able to hear masterclasses and interviews from speakers from a range of fields including business, arts, academia and more.

This week’s speakers are:

Richard Murrel – Lead Director, BBC news will explore with students what a Broadcaster does and what you might expect from the job role.

Dr Nira Chamberlain, President, IMA & Visiting Fellow, Loughborough University Mathematical Sciences Department – his talk is entitled what is the point of mathematics? In this talk, Dr Nira Chamberlain will show how and why he became a mathematician. This includes his  journey from an Inner-city school to winning the title World’s Most Interesting Mathematician 2018 and becoming one of the UK’s Top 100 Scientists. Also in this talk, Dr Chamberlain will demonstrate how he has applied his mathematics to real world crises, from saving Aston Villa to COVID-19!

James Taylor, Creativity expert  will introduce to KS3 students the idea that AI will change creativity and how that might look like in the future.

Marco Bertozzi, Vice President for Europe, Spotify will be answering student questions on a range of topics from creating your CV, getting your foot in the door for work experience or a job, developing your personal brand and practical tips on how to get started with preparing your social channels for career success.

Zaki Cooper , Director of Philanthropy and Communications, Dorfman Family Office will explore with students how we can build a more cohesive UK by building positive relationships between religions.

Chloe Brotheridge, Clinical Hypnotherapist, author of The Anxiety Solution and & Sara Milne Rowe, Performance Coach, founder of Coaching Impact and author of The SHED Method- will be sharing their expertise and practical tips for managing anxiety and taking control of your mood during these uncertain times. Students will have the opportunity to ask questions and receive a free audiobook download of The Anxiety Solution and The SHED Method.

Jonty Bloom, Freelance Journalist - In this session Jonty will share insights into what qualifications and other qualities are needed in the world of work. What can help you stand in good stead for the future and what the future world of work might look like.

The schedule of talks can be found on the Speakers for Schools website here.

Helen Judson